Vakariously crazy
by Dancing like Garrus
Summary: A woman travels through space and ends up in the company of a certain scientist salarian. She travels with him to Omega which leads her to Shepard's squad where she meets the love of her life and is thrown into their suicide mission to save humanity. Set in Mass Effect 2, maybe 3. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hey everyone, I'm Lindsay. This is my first story ever posted on any site and I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't have people telling me to. (Thanks Skeeve) I've been writing fanfics for a while now but haven't posted until now. This is the first chapter but it might as well be a prologue because there is no Mass Effect in it yet, This is just to set the scene. I know the names at this point are weird, there is a reason behind that and it will be explained later. Also I did add a new race so if that bothers anyone they might as well not read. I hope that answers all questions but if anyone has any more, just ask in a review or PM me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or really anything in this story except Diamond, the world she comes from, her race and any other characters of her race.**

I stared at the monstrous spaceship in front of me. This was supposed to carry me all the way to the planet sighted way out in dark space?

"Is everything alright miss?" Someone asked. I turned around.

"Yes I'm okay, thanks Elm." I said. Elm carried on with his role in preparation for launch. One of the senior council members walked up; Rock, the most stubborn person I have ever met.

"Are you sure you want to do this Diamond? You could be very useful back here." He said, his expression sour.

"That is exactly why I'm leaving. I don't wish to be your tool any longer." I said before turning back to the ship. "Ready for launch." I announced.

"Alright miss. If you would just climb in and fasten your seat belt we will close the hatch and begin." Said someone named Leaf. I had a good memory and these names stuck even though I'd only met some of them once.

I looked around the hanger for the last time as I would never return here, no matter what happened, I would not have enough fuel to get back either.

The walls of the hangar were a bleached white, rising up way above my head and stretching out wide. There was a window on one wall farther up so the engineers could see the spaceship launch. On the opposite wall there was a door. The door took up almost the entire wall and, when opened, folded like a massive garage door.

The spaceship itself was monstrous. It took up three-quarters of the space in the hanger. It had enormous wings that were half of the size but also giant fuel tanks inside the ship took up a staggering amount of space. After all that there was still a small space for me including a control room, a bed and a transmitter to send messages back home if I found anything.

I suddenly felt small and lost, like a child without a parent. In spite of that feeling, or maybe because of it, a grin slowly spread across my face. I really wanted to do this, with all my heart and soul.

A ladder led to the cockpit from the ground. I took a deep breath, ascended the ladder and sat down. I quickly strapped myself in and gave the thumbs up to show that I was ready. The clear hatch slowly came down and clamped shut. I don't know when Rock had left but he was definitely gone now. I flipped on a glowing red switch and checked a few monitors before pressing a few controls. I put on some sound mufflers, pushed up on a lever and felt the engine roar to life but I couldn't hear a thing.

I knew I wouldn't have to do anything else for a while as the ship was in the engineers hands now.

The garage-like door opened slowly and blinding daylight shone in, the huge yellow sun glared down brightly while the smaller red sun hid behind.

I felt the ship start to move forward, suddenly the real boosts kicked in and I was off. I blasted into the sky and out of the atmosphere in under a minute. I felt exhilarated and free, I was made to do this. I was silenced by the pure serene beauty of space.

I looked around at the inky blackness with swirls of stars and planets dotted here and there. None of which were life supporting, we had checked them all thoroughly for signs.

My ship, named Kta'atick after a city, maintained its speed as it raced towards its destination but out in space it seemed as if it had slowed down or that everything around it had slowed down. I sat still for a long time just gazing around in awe.

* * *

I had been in Kta'atick for a week now. It had been moving at slightly less than light speed so I could see all the stars but those got tiresome after a bit.

I had lost contact with home two days ago because I was out of range so I had to manually control the ship.

I stared at some screens for a bit before deciding I needed to eat as it had been a full day since I had last eaten anything. I got up to grab something when a loud beeping filled the room.

I looked over at the controls. A screen was flashing bright green letters that read "TARGET IN RANGE".

I was about to walk over when another loud beep sounded and another message appeared in bright red letters "SYSTEMS OVERHEATED. CRASH IMMINENT." I looked out the window and dead ahead was a planet.

I wasn't stopping.

Somehow I had overheated and now I was going to crash. As my brain scrambled to process that information I rushed to stop the inevitable. I knew this ship well and it didn't take long before I was able to cool down the engines enough to start the reverse but by then it was too late.

I was thrown forward on impact. I hit the ground hard and everything went black.

**I appreciate reviews. Constructive criticism is welcome. I will continue to post chapters, I'd like to know thoughts though.**

**~Lindsay**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. This and the next are transition chapters into the real fanfic. The first 3 chapters are mostly explanation. If this stuff bores you, you can skip chapter 3 as it isn't necessary and it's not that great. You can skip this one too but I wouldn't recommend it as you will be confused if you just skip to 4. Chapter 4 is better, I promise.**

I awoke to the acrid smell of smoke. I opened my eyes and saw blue sky and weird looking trees. I sat up slowly and groaned; my whole body ached and I had a splitting headache. Suddenly I remembered where I was and what had happened, I looked around. I was lying a couple of feet away away from my ship, or, what was left of it. It was a smoking wreck now but it was mostly intact.

Something moved in my peripheral, a person.

No.

An alien.

"He-hello. Who... who are you? What are you?" I asked.

It said something that I didn't understand.

"What?" I gasped.

It said something else.

I tried to get up but I couldn't stand. I had to get to my ship. The alien started to come over but I didn't want its help. I rolled over and pushed myself onto my hands and knees. My vision blurred and I almost blacked out in pain. I pushed myself through the pain and started to crawl towards the ship. It wasn't very dignified but I didn't care right then.

It said something else but I couldn't understand it. I finally made it to the twisted wreck of my ship. A few tears leaked out of my eyes.

My name was in there.

I put my hand in my pocket to check just in case and I touched something. I smiled, I actually had not lost my name. We always kept a small physical representation of our name on our person. My people were always named after physical things and the names had meaning represented by the object. I wasn't just named Diamond, I was Diamond.

I crawled back to the alien who crouched beside me when I reached him.

I pointed to myself and said my name, Diamond, and pointed at the diamond in my hand. He looked confused, or I assumed it was confusion.

He asked me something but I didn't understand. I pointed at myself again.

"Diamond." I pointed at the gem. "Diamond." He nodded as if he understood. He pointed to himself.

"Mordin." He said. I pointed at him.

"Mordin." He nodded. The word felt weird in my mouth, it was too soft, not enough clicks. He pointed at me

"Diamond." He said in my language. I looked at the gem in my hand and pointed at it and then pointed at him. He shook his head and said something. I found this so confusing, it was making my head hurt more.

My vision started to go black around the edges but I didn't want to faint in front of this alien. I started to pitch forward. I desperately tried to stay awake but sleep wrapped its fuzzy arms around me and I lost consciousness.

**And we meet Mordin! In case anyone is wondering why he is randomly out in the forest, he saw the ship crash and went to investigate. In earlier versions of this chapter Diamond was fully aware and mostly fine after the crash. Her conversation with Mordin was a lot longer and after it she got up and walked away with Mordin supporting her. That was ridiculous because she had just crashed into a planet so I had her collapse instead. I thought this way was better. Let me know your thoughts.**

**~Lindsay**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone, I would like you to read this chapter but you CAN skip this chapter as it is mostly filler and explanation of what happened to Diamond before she met Shepard. It may be a little OOC. This chapter isn't great but it was fun to write her so terrified.**

I woke up on a hard table. There were unfamiliar machines around me and the ceiling was bright white and had a strange too-clean smell.

My wrist and nose felt funny. Also my shoulder stung a bit. My rib felt like it was being crushed and I had a pounding headache. I turned my head and saw a bright white wall beside me.

I turned the other way to find out where I was and there was a large group of aliens, staring at me. I sat up and scrambled backwards until I hit the wall. My shoulder and rib hurt more from the activity and something pulled at my wrist and nose.

I looked down and saw a tube sticking out of my skin. My skin crawled. A liquid moved through the tube, was it that poison that made it feel as if your blood was on fire? I could feel a ghost pain rushing up my arm but it wasn't the real thing. It wasn't a bad liquid as far as I could tell but I had never had a good experience with tubes in my arm so I ripped it out.

I glanced back up at my spectators. They were all chattering to each other. The crowd was parted as it was pushed aside and one I recognized came into view. Mordin.

"What's going on? Where is this? Who are all these aliens?" I asked quickly, before realizing he wouldn't understand. Still, for some reason I felt comfortable around him. As if he were a friend. All of the observers went silent when I spoke.

Mordin said something to them and then turned back to me.

"Mordin?" I asked quietly, I was terrified, as one would be if they woke up in a strange room surrounded by scary aliens.

"Diamond." He replied, holding out his hand. My diamond was sitting on it. "Why was it taken from me! It's my name. I need it. Thank you for returning it Mordin." I chattered. I knew he couldn't understand me but I pretended that he could.

He turned and spoke quickly to the others in the room. The words slipped past my uncomprehending ears.

Mordin held out a needle and I scrambled away.

"No! Please! I beg you." I cried out in distress. He came towards me despite my cries and stabbed it into my arm. Injecting me with whatever was inside. after a few moments of waiting wide-eyed I began to feel drowsy and my eyes started to cloud over. My last thought before blissful unconsciousness was, why did he sedate me? I wasn't doing anything wrong.

* * *

I woke up to the same bright white but I was alone, tubes were once again in my arm so I ripped them out. My rib and shoulder felt better so I stood and walked to the door.

The door was weird though as there was a green rectangle with an image of a circle on it but no handle. I reached out and cautiously touched the circle. It began rotating which scared me so I backed up and crouched in front of my bed, unsure of what was happening.

The circle stopped moving and the door opened. I watched it for a moment before standing up straight and walking towards it. The door closed again before I reached it so I continued towards it to open it again but before I could, an alien came through.

Upon seeing me awake and standing it rushed out and came back a few minutes later with Mordin. He started to talk but I couldn't tell what he was saying. He might not have even been talking to me but I shook my head and raised my arms to show I had no idea what he was talking about anyway. He nodded and guided me back to the bed. Table. Thing.

I cooperated because I had come to see if there was intelligent life elsewhere and now that I found it I intended to find out about it but I couldn't until I learned their language so for now, I just had to do what they wanted me to and hope that they didn't perceive me as a threat.

* * *

A few weeks later I was up and walking with Mordin, I had to be escorted around but at least I was allowed to walk around.

"It... good to... walk." I said. I had been trying to speak their language for while and I liked to use every chance I got. I knew that the sentence was probably seen as pathetic by him but I was proud of it. Mordin smiled at me. He seemed to always like to see my progress. It seemed to me that he saw it as a bit of an accomplishment for himself. Or maybe he was happy for me. I wasn't sure, it was hard to tell how aliens felt.

"Are there... more... not-Salarians? Um... other..." I struggled to think of the word. I wasn't sure if that made sense to him I and I knew I was mispronouncing half the words but I was curious if there were other, different aliens here.

"Other races?" He asked. I nodded to confirm, I assumed it was what I meant. I wasn't familiar with the word. "Yes. Many." He answered, talking slow for my benefit. I was sure that it was annoying for him. It would have been annoying for me to talk slow in my language. "Are there others that you know?" He asked.

"No. I came... look for... races. Find you." I explained.

"Did you know about us?" He asked. I shook my head.

"We look. Don't think... we will find... but do. They do not know... you. I crash... no time to... tell." I said. The language barrier was frustrating but I was working around it. Learning was slow going but I was starting to get it. I was working on talking like Salarians too. They sounded different, it wasn't just the language. I wanted to sound like them so maybe I didn't standout that much. It wasn't going too well though, they had weird voices and they always talked fast.

"You were looking for other races?" He asked. I nodded.

"We want to find... to know. We... not want to be find by other. We want to find." I said. This language hurt my throat. It had so much more sound then I was used to.

"You didn't want to be found before you found the other races?" Mordin asked. I paused for a few seconds to go over that sentence in my mind.

"Yes."

"How did you know there were others out there?" He asked.

"We did not. We want to look... To see. We not know." I said. He had looked like he was about to respond but some other Salarian came up and talked to him, ending our conversation.

* * *

For the next month I was Mordin's shadow. Following him around, learning from him. I learned a lot of their language in that time too, Mordin was a reasonable teacher and I was a pretty fast learner. I was reasonably happy here, learning stuff. It seemed like Mordin was bored though. Eventually he talked to me about it.

"I'm going to leave Sur'Kesh soon. Go somewhere else. Need challenge. Omega maybe." He said.

"I'm coming with you then. What's Omega?" I asked.

"Omega space station. Too dangerous for you. Also, you might not be allowed to leave this planet." He said. I didn't think it would be too dangerous. I could handle myself. Usually.

"I can fight." I said. "And you are the only person I really feel comfortable around here so I want to go with you."

"Maybe. We'll see. Wouldn't mind company but don't want to have to watch out for you. Also, still don't know if you can leave." He said.

"If I am told I can not then I will sneak off this planet with you." I said. I really wanted to go with him.

"Maybe. Possibility of being caught is moderate. Punishment, also moderate. Would be willing to take my chances." He said. I grinned.

"And I might not have to sneak." I said. After a short pause I continued the conversation. "What would we be doing on Omega?" I asked. "Omega full of sickness. Also corruption. Open a clinic. Maybe get lucky and find a plague." He said. I sighed. Going to Omega sounded so romantic.

I was very exited.

**Next chapter will be set in the time of mass effect 2. I promise. And it has a (tiny) bit about Shepard.**

**~Lindsay**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey readers, just a warning, I might have spelt some things wrong and some of my information might be off. I've played this part recently but my memory is crap so forgive me. The end is Diamond's story, what her past was like for anyone who's curious about why she left her world originally. Enjoy!**

I sat on the ground against a wall in Mordin's clinic on Omega he had opened recently.

Omega is a dangerous station full of smugglers, thieves, thugs and mercs. It is attached to an asteroid and its main source of income is drilling it for eezo.

The clinic was full of sick aliens, most of the races I had only learned about recently. There were tall, green creatures with 4 eyes, two on each side called batarians. There were tall, grey aliens with feather like things on the back of their head, mandibles and a natural almost war paint design on their face that was different for each one called turians. There was 1 or 2 tall peach coloured aliens with hair on their heads called humans and of course there was Mordin the salarian. Dr. Daniel Abrams, Mordin's assistant, was one of the few humans.

I saw him come walking down the hallway towards me, smiling. Are all humans as cheery as him? I wondered. Even in the middle of helping cure a plague he was happy.

"Hey Diamond. Would you mind coming with me?" He asked. I stood.

"Where are we going Daniel?" I asked.

"We are going to get supplies while it's still a bit safe." He answered.

"Okay. But why am I going?" I asked. He had started walking forward already.

"Because Mordin told me you can handle yourself and me in a fight but you're useless at finding supplies." He responded. I sighed and followed.

"Did he give you a pistol again?" I asked when I caught up to him. He held it out. I pushed it back into his hand.

"Keep it. I have my own." I said. "That will do you more good than me." He sighed.

"You know I won't shoot it, right?" He asked. I nodded.

"I know. You aren't willing to harm anyone. You are a doctor, you help lives, not take them away." I said. He nodded this time.

"You know me so well." He said. I smiled.

"Hurry up. We don't want to run into any Bloodpack." I said, speeding up. He hurried along beside me.

"Or Blue suns." He added. I nodded. We excited the clinic and hurried through the district, trying not to attract attention.

"Don't stop for anyone. Not even the sick." I whispered.

"But what if-"

"We don't have time. We could be seen and killed if we delay." I whispered, cutting him off.

"Fine." He whispered back. We went as quickly and as quietly as possible.

It felt like forever but we finally made it out of the quarantine and into the main area. I led him to the small shopping centre near by and then left him alone. I leaned against a corner playing with my gun while I waited for Daniel to buy the supplies. I watched people walk by but the only people of interest I saw was a group of 3 heavily armoured humans with large guns strapped to their backs.

One of them was male, he was dark-skinned and had broad shoulders. The other two were female, they were pale skinned and slimmer. One of the females was wearing white armour while the other female and the male wore black. I watched them pass but I stayed where I was until Daniel came back.

"You're finished?" I asked.

"Ya. I really hate dealing with these people. They are really terrible." He said. I nodded. I turned back towards the quarantine.

"Hurry up Daniel or they'll keep you out." I said. The guard at the door of the quarantine knew to let me in when I got to the door, I'd been through enough and they were probably tired of having their own guns shoved in their faces.

We moved quickly and made it back to the clinic unscathed and unseen. I heard Daniel sigh, relieved to be safe.

"Alright, get those supplies to Mordin. I'm going to rest." I said.

"Rest? You had a rest before I got you." He said. I shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I can't have one now." I said as I sat on the ground. He sighed and walked away. As soon as he was out of sight I stood and moved towards the aliens in the clinic.

"Diamond!" I heard a few people call. I smiled and greeted them.

"How about another story? Your last one was so good!" A batarian said. When you didn't know them they were unfriendly, if you got to know them they were alright though.

"Sure. What do you want to hear? Another Ctick fairytale?" I asked.

"Tell us your story!" Someone said. I nodded.

"Okay. I can do that. My story isn't that exciting though." I said.

"Alright. It begins with a girl in a naming ceremony." I said.

I told them about how I was named Diamond and how that was a high honour. All of the great female heroes are named Diamond in our history. It means strong, unbreakable. We can adapt to most situations, we are reasonably fast learners and we can keep secrets no matter what the pressure put on us is. Diamonds are extremely useful.

I told them about how I became in the service of the council because all Diamonds were required to. I told them of how I was taught to be a spy and how I was trained to fight.

I told them about the war that started about a year after I'd infiltrated the enemy's close circle and how I helped in the war by spying on the other side and eventually assassinating the enemy lord. I told them that I was also unfortunately very impulsive so I left a diamond at the scene of the assassination. Not my diamond but a diamond. I told them about being caught and how council had to intervene and keep me from being thrown in jail. I told them about how I then was taught to not show myself and how to control my impulses.

I told them about how eventually I got tired of being the councils puppet and I left. I told them about how there was a planet spotted in dark space and I offered to go there and how the council was furious and tried to dissuade me but I left anyway. I was tired of being controlled. I told them about the three or four days in the spaceship and how I crashed on the planet.

I explained that I woke up finding an alien standing over me and it spoke another language. It told me its name was Mordin and I told him my name was Diamond. Mordin brought me to some place where I woke up with tubes in my arm and aliens watching me. I explained that I did not know how long I was in that room for, but it was a long time. Mordin taught me his language while I was healing and I taught him about my race. I told them about us leaving SurKesh, the planet I was on, and coming here to start a clinic

"and you know the rest." I finished off with. I looked around, as I had been talking my audience had grown. Now all the patients that had been just sitting were listening. They all were silent through the entire tale, listening attentively.

"You said it wasn't very exciting but more has happened to you then has happened to me and I've lived longer than you." An elderly turian said.

"I guess it is exciting. It certainly didn't feel exciting at the time." I said.

"Are you sure? I think assassinating someone would be exciting." I heard someone call.

"And crashing into a planet!" I heard another say. I smiled.

"Yes. It does sound exciting but do you know how scary it was to assassinate someone? Exciting is not a word I would use to describe it. Crashing a ship? That was terrifying and too fast to be exciting." I said.

"It's an exciting story though." Someone said. I laughed.

"It sounds pretty crazy when I say it out loud." I said. I loved telling stories, even my own and these people loved listening to stories. It had been hard to gain their trust at first because they were suspicious of a new race but they eventually accepted me, probably because it was just me. Not an entire fleet.

They told me stories of their own. Some weren't good story tellers at all but I was a good listener and I enjoyed their stories. Some of them were hardened smugglers, thugs and mercs, You have to be tough if you want to live on Omega, but almost all had a soft side and they all liked listening to stories.

**In case there is anyone who is confused, the three humans are Shepard, Miranda and Jacob. I would really appreciate a bit of feedback for this chapter and for the later chapters, if I got anything wrong or if anyone was OOC so I can fix it. I can try to rewrite dialoge so it is more accurate if need be. Thanks.**

**~Lindsay**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's another chapter. Also I wanted to thank cartec677 for the question, Diamond's appearance will be explained later sometime I just suck at coming up with what people look like and I don't know when it would explain it.**

Next day

I was chatting with a few people a couple when the female human from earlier came in.

She was wearing black armour with a red strip on her arm that said "N7" in white characters on it. Her face was hard and distant like she'd seen battle and she had glowing red cybernetic scars on the side of her face. The scars seemed dull like they were in the process of healing. Her hair was tied into a bun on the back of her head. She had a pale face but not the palest I'd ever seen. She walk with a kind of confidence but not like she was used to getting her way but more like she was ready to make people her see her way and adopt it as theirs. On her back were a variety of weapons, guns, that I did not know the names of except the pistol.

She entered the room and behind her was another human. The other woman with her from earlier. She was wearing a white outfit. I wasn't sure whether it was armour or not because it seemed to be fabric but I assumed it was as she too had weapons on her back. She had long, brown hair and was paler then the first woman. She walked with a kind of superiority as if she was used to getting her way.

She moved on and one other entered the room.

My knees buckled and I ended up on the ground. I was shocked and my veins felt like they were on fire.

My people have a dramatic reaction when they see their mate and this was my mate. I just knew it. I stared at him from the floor. He was a turian. He walked with a confidence too but it wasn't overpowering, it just seemed to fill the room. he wore blue armour and he had blue war paint on his face but some of it was covered by a bandage covering most of one side of his face. He passed and entered the room where Mordin was working.

"Are you okay Diamond?" I heard someone ask. I was too dazed to be embarrassed.

"Ya. Oh ya. I'm great." I said airily.

"Are you sure? You seem kind of... dazed." Someone else said.

"And you fell over." Another added. I couldn't quite concentrate on who.

"I am. I just saw HIM." I said, emphasizing the "him" to give it meaning.

"Who? The turian?" Someone asked.

"Mm hmm." I replied.

"Ooh! Diamond's in love!" Someone joked. I nodded.

"Yes. Yes I am." I said. The room was silent.

"You know him?" Someone asked eventually.

"Nope. Not before now." I responded.

"How can you be in love then?"

I looked around surprised. "You guys don't have a reaction when you see your mate?" I asked."How do you know who your One is then?"

"What?" I heard asked.

"Your One. Your only love." I said.

"So that turian was your One?" Someone asked.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Another suggested.

"It looked like they were talking to Mordin." I heard.

"Why don't you go find out what they're talking about?" Someone asked. I smiled and stood.

"I'm going. I'm going." I said. I heard murmured advice and well wishes but only barely. I was going to see my One.

* * *

I stood outside the door and listened to them. They were talking about taking Mordin away but he said he needed to cure this plague first.

The fans turned off that circled the oxygen and he asked the human to go turn them on again and put in the cure. He also asked for the human to find Dr. Daniel. I hadn't known but he had gone into Bloodpack territory to find plague victims.

He gave a gun to the human "in good faith." I heard that all in the background.

I had been focusing on the turian.

I cleared my throat and stepped into the room. "Mordin. I can be of some assistance." I said. He nodded.

"If you need new partner should be her. Not as good at science and medicine but better fighter. Understand why you need me and glad to help but should pick her as well." He said.

"Who is 'her' and what race is she? I don't believe I've ever seen your kind before." the human lead asked. I nodded at her.

"My name is Diamond and I am a ctick." I said. The human frowned.

"I don't think I've heard of the ctick." She said.

"I am the only one of my race here. We have a planet but I'm told that it can't be reached by regular ships because it is too far out in space." I explained.

"My name is Shepard and I am a human." She said. I smiled.

"Nice to meet you Shepard." I said. "Do you need any help with the vents? I have some experience with vorcha and I know the area a bit." Shepard shook her head.

"We don't need help now but we'll need help with our mission. We are going through the Omega 4 relay on a mission to take down the Collectors." Shepard said. I had listened to many stories and some featured the Collectors but I knew nothing of the Omega 4 relay.

"I am familiar with the Collectors but the Omega 4 relay is not something I know." I said.

"The Omega 4 relay is where the Collectors are. No ship that has gone through has returned. We will be the first." Shepard said. "Will you come with us? I won't lie. You might not come home." She warned. I looked over at the turian.

"Yes I'll go. I'll help you." I said. She nodded.

"I should go." She said.

**Ahh Garrus! I really loved writing her reaction to seeing him, I know it's love at first sight which is totally cliche but I didn't want to have Diamond have to decide or slowly fall in love and finally realize that she feels something more for Garrus then friendship.I know Shepard wouldn't accept Diamond that quickly but why would she accept Diamond if it wasn't at Mordin's recommendation? I just didn't want to write a whole thing of proving herself and being so awesome that Shepard has no choice but to ask her to join the squad because that is ridiculous and wouldn't happen. Oh and the description of Shepard at the beginning, that was to emphasis the fact that she is paragon. Also the "One" thing I might have copied from the chaos walking series, from Spackle 1017. That is where I first got it from and it stuck in my head.**

**~Lindsay**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took forever. I will try to be quicker with the posting but no guarantee. This chapter is really short because it's to explain Diamond's appearance. A few people have been asking for it and maybe you'll be able to picture her now. I got most of my inspiration from Predator. (thanks cartec677 :) ) I know it's not an original look but I was struggling. Just so everyone knows, t****his is not a crossover. ****Enjoy**

Garrus:

I listened while Mordin explained to Shepard what needed to happen before he'd go with her, none of it seemed too challenging. Just a few bloodpack mercs and a lost human to retrieve.

As they were talking I got the feeling someone was watching me. I looked around and saw someone standing in the doorway. I had never seen the race before. She had a lot of shoulder length, thin, black tendrils with a few small gold rings on each. They were coming out of her head like hair on humans. She had a really long forehead that sloped backwards, dark blue skin with a silvery pattern and big eyes with large black pupils dominating most of the eye, around the pupil was dark purple.

There was something about her that was captivating, her eyes seemed to draw me in. I realized that as I was taking her appearance in, she was staring at me. When I realized that I held her gaze. She stepped into the room.

"Mordin. I can be of some assistance." She said, looking away from me for a second.

Her voice was medium range, it sounded normal. If you were to hear her without seeing her you would guess that she was human. I was so busy thinking about her that I missed what Mordin said.

"What race is she? I don't believe I've met your kind before." Shepard said. I found that funny. Shepard knew that she had never met one of her kind, she had quite a distinct look. It would be very hard to forget her or anyone that looked like her.

"My name is Diamond and I am a ctick." She said.

I heard Shepard say something in response to that and Diamond and her had a short conversation but I couldn't tell what was said. I got distracted by Diamond. She didn't look anything like a turian or really any race I'd ever seen. She might look a quarian for all I knew, I had no idea what quarians looked like under their masks.

The next thing I heard was Shepard asking Diamond if she wanted to join the crew. Diamond looked over at me and held my gaze while she agreed. Shepard said her classic

"I should go." And we left to do Mordin's mission.

**In case anyone is wondering, Garrus isn't in love or even attracted to her, he is just captivated by her eyes. Nothing more. Also I got a bit lazy and didn't want to rewrite the dialogue from his point of view so he got distracted by this new, weird looking woman in front of him.**

**~Lindsay**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello all you beautiful readers, I'm back again. Sorry for the long wait, I went on vacation, my internet crapped out on me, I lost my phone and I had a whole month of writers block but I am back! And I brought a whole new chapter with me! Hooray and all that. Enjoy! Or, you know, don't. Your choice ;)**

While Shepard was gone I said my goodbyes and packed what little I owned.

Daniel came back eventually. He told Mordin and I the entire story about how some batarians were going to kill him when Shepard came in and told them they could go free if they let Daniel go and she let them go. She didn't shoot them which relieved Daniel. He had been sure she would shoot.

After a while Mordin approached me.

"Have to ask, why did you volunteer?" He asked.

"My 'One' was in that group. " I answered.

"Which?" He asked. Before I could answer he guessed. "the Turian?" I nodded.

"Yes. The turian." I said.

I had explained 'the One' a while ago when telling him about myself. I had mentioned that I hadn't found my 'One' yet to him in passing because I hadn't known that none of the aliens had a 'One' and he had asked what it was and I had explained. He didn't tell me other races didn't have that reaction. He nodded.

"Understandable. You will have to be careful around the turian, he won't know about 'the One', don't want to scare him." He said. I nodded.

"Ok. Thank you. I will try to hide it." I said. He nodded. He was about to respond but the fans came back online, cutting him off.

"Shepard did it. I'm not surprised, she seems very..." I paused, searching for the right word. My vocabulary in their language was limited. Luckily I'd had Mordin as a teacher and he seemed to have a broader vocabulary then most. I was still working on grasping the grammar but I was reasonably fluent in their language. Mordin nodded, he always knew what I meant, even when I didn't know how to say it.

"She is N7. Elite soldiers." He said.

"Elite?" I asked. The word was familiar but I didn't know what it meant.

"Better trained." He explained. I nodded.

Shepard came back not long after. She told us a little about the mission with the fans and that the vorcha would be less of a problem.

Mordin put Daniel in charge of the clinic while he was gone.

I said goodbye to Daniel and he told me to find him when I had the chance. I told him I would. He hugged me goodbye, which was new for me. I'd never been hugged by anyone but my family before. I almost felt bad for leaving him. Almost. I would have felt worse if I wasn't so excited.

The five of us, Mordin, Shepard, the turian the other human and I, went back to their ship, the Normandy. I learned the human was named Miranda and the turian was named Garrus.

We got on the ship and were shown to the meeting room through a large room with computers in it by Miranda. Shepard left us briefly to talk to the pilot.

I looked around the ship with interest. The outside was much smaller than the ship I'd arrived in but the interior was so much bigger and nicer. It looked like it could be the inside of a building rather than a ship.

The dark-skinned human followed us into the meeting room and Miranda was just starting to talk when Shepard walked in.

A disembodied female voice greeted us as well and told Mordin that there was a fully equipped lab aboard the Normandy that he was welcome to use. Mordin debated with himself over what the voice was eventually he confirmed that it was an AI. I asked what that meant and Mordin responded with

"Artificial Intelligence."

"Mmm." That really didn't tell me anything. I sort of knew what intelligence was but I had no idea what 'artificial' meant.

"Computer that thinks for its self." He explained. I nodded.

"Ok." Now I get it. That didn't sound safe to me but I was realising fairly quickly that I really didn't know very much so maybe they had found a way to make it safe.

"That's EDI, our AI." Shepard introduced her. I nodded.

"We also need to decide where Diamond will stay." Miranda said.

"I will just go to the lab and set up. Meet me there later Diamond. I have some things to discuss." Mordin interrupted.

"I'll show you the way." Jacob said and they left. I turned to Shepard.

"I can stay with Mordin and be his assistant." I said. Shepard nodded. "Ok. I would like to know where to find you." She said. I nodded.

"I'll probably be in Mordin's lab. I don't know. It is possible I'll be somewhere else." I said.

"Do you have somewhere in mind?" She asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure." I lied. I didn't want to have to explain my reaction to Garrus. "That's why I said I'd tell you later." I said. She nodded.

"Noted."

"May I leave? Just to settle in I mean." I asked.

"I think we're finished here." She said.

"Katas c'hacta ka'akerra ranaku zeckt terrniko." I said, my language coming back easily after a few years of almost no use, and then bowed out of the room as was the way I left the presence of my betters when I was at home, it seemed appropriate.

I walked down the short hall in the direction I saw Mordin and Jacob walk. I opened the door and saw Mordin.

"Ah Diamond. Good. Hoped you wouldn't take long. I have some questions. First though, where are you staying?" I shrugged.

"I asked if I could stay with you. If that's alright." I said.

"You can stay here, might need assistant. Also, might not. You can wander ship, might have questions when I see you."

"So... you had questions?" I prompted. He nodded. "

Questions about 'One'. Particularly reaction. You mentioned common reactions of your kind. Not your own. Was curious what yours was."

"My legs collapsed, I was dizzy and I could only focus on him. Even when he left I stayed like that. Fortunately my mouth didn't bleed as my heart didn't speed up. It slowed down actually." I said, that last part was more of an afterthought.

"'Mouth didn't bleed'? What? Why would your mouth bleed?" Mordin asked. I realized that was something I hadn't told him.

"Oh, you don't get that? Well if our heart beats too fast and the blood rushes to our heads and then there is too much blood so the roof of our mouths open and some blood flows into my mouth to help drain it." I said.

"Fascinating." He muttered and turned away. I recognized my dismissal. I smiled as I walked quickly out of Mordin's room and to the elevator. I thought he had a few questions.

As I reached it Miranda came out of the armory and joined me at the elevator. I nodded at her. After a few moments of silence the elevator arrived. We entered the elevator and began the descent.

"As you exited the room earlier you said something to Shepard and I, was that your language?" She asked. I nodded.

"It roughly translates to 'may you walk in the light'." I explained.

"Is that religious?" She asked. I considered that for a moment.

"I don't believe so. Where I come from it was a respectful farewell when leaving the presence of your betters. It is meant as saying may you live in..." I paused. "I don't know the word... knowledge? Or it could mean may you be happy." I said. She smiled but it didn't seem to reach her eyes. It's like it froze on her mouth.

"If I were to follow the respectful code I would have greeted you by bowing and saying: Kisre ta'at antrec vek tonresket. Which means 'you grace me with your presence.' But I figured that would be over the top." I explained. I felt like language would be a bit tough here with so many people all speaking the same language that I had trouble with.

The elevator finally dinged open, this elevator was really slow for just one floor. Miranda stepped out and walked away. I exited the elevator as well but I wasn't so sure on where to go. I just felt like going down here. I decided to start at the front and work my way back down here.

I walked down a short, curved hall and into an open room with tables in the centre. There were crew members at the tables eating or chatting. As I walked past I heard conversation stop. I smiled at them and I held my head high. I pretended I didn't mind but really it freaked me out. I didn't like people staring. I thought I could feel their eyes on me, as I walked to the door at the end of a long hall extending from that room, but I knew I was imagining it. I opened the door and entered, not expecting to find anyone there, I just wanted to get away from all the stares.

Turns out it wasn't empty, Garrus was in it. He looked at me as I entered. I felt my knees go all jelly like but I don't want to show weakness in front of him, I grabbed the wall for support.

"Oh!" I said in surprise. "I'm sorry. I didn't know there was anyone here."

"It's fine. Diamond right?" He asked, his voice a double tone sub-harmonic. My hand slipped on the wall but I held myself up.

"Mmhmm." I didn't trust myself to speak, I figured it would probably have come out garbled if I did. I couldn't help it. I didn't want to look like I was supporting myself so I pushed myself off the wall and my legs gave out. I frowned inwardly at myself. Weak. Pathetic. If one alien could do this to me all the time then I was done for. I needed to get over it. I was being ridiculous.

"Are you alright?" Garrus asked concerned. Uh oh. Well, time to bring out the lies. I blinked a bit and nodded.

"Yes. I'm fine. Mordin stuck me with a needle. It was a mild sedative. He said it would make me weak. I got a bit nervous about space flight." I explained. I stood up slowly. I touched my forehead to add to the effect. I took a deep breath like I needed to steady myself. More like calm myself. I was a little over excited. I looked back up at him. "I'm fine." I said. He laughed.

"Ah I wasn't sure what to do. Girls swoon when they see me all the time but not in a one on one conversation." He said. I was surprised by that.

"Girls swoon when they see you?" I repeated as a question. For some reason I felt oddly sad.

"Nah, I was kidding." He said. I sighed.

"Oh, I didn't get that. I still am not good at knowing what's a joke and what isn't." I said, slightly relieved but also worried that he didn't believe my lie. That he had seen the truth.

"Ah, I'll try not to make many jokes then." He said, shifting slightly to the side.

"Oh you can make jokes, just don't expect me to get it." He laughed.

"I won't hold my breath for laughter then." He said. I smiled.

"Good, you'd probably suffocate if you did that." I said. I was enjoying this lighthearted conversation.

"So what made you come down here?" He asked. The sudden change in conversation threw me off but not for long.

"I... I came down to meet the rest of the squad." I said. I guess I was slightly out of practice with casual lies.

"Heh I don't believe that. What's the real reason?" He asked. Clearly my stumble at the beginning of that sentence tipped him off. I didn't want him to know I came to see him.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret." I said with a grin. He sighed.

"That's too bad. You know, you are a terrible liar. I think you just came down to see me." I could hear a subtle change in his voice when he said that but I couldn't tell what it was. Was he revealing that he actually knew my secret? Was he hoping that was true? Was he just kidding? Was that how he usually talked? Was he hinting at an interest in me? Can he even be interested in me without knowing me? I suppressed the questions and responded in a safe way.

"In your dreams Garrus." I said, trying to make my voice sound light and teasing.

"Well I can hope, can't I?" He asked with a chuckle. A beep came from behind him and he looked around, the sudden noise brought me back to reality as I focused on more than just Garrus. He was leaning against a control panel with the orange holos I had come to recognize as computers. Behind that was a huge gun with two walkways on either side, probably for maintenance. I heard Garrus sigh.

"Ah it was nice meeting you but I should probably get back to work. Guns don't calibrate themselves." He said.

"What does calibrate mean?" I inquired. I'd never heard the word before. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not good at explaining. Uh... it's basically fixing it so it shoots accurately." He said. That helped a bit but not much.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

"Ah I can't really explain it, I'd have to show you." He said. I paused a second before responding.

"Would you be willing to show me?" I asked cautiously.

"Sure. Come here." He said, beckoning me over. My heart rate sped up and my mouth started bleeding. I was going to be so near to him.

**Does anyone know what language they actually speak in the game? I know it's English, but that's so we can understand. I just never know if they are actually speaking English or if there is a translator thing on their omnitool or if they just made up a universal language that they all speak. I don't know what they speak so I just played it safe and called it their language. Anyway, the short conversation with Garrus, is it too familiar? I like to know your thoughts :)**

**-Lindsay**


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